


The Things I Never Told You

by Fangirl_Disaster



Category: Fantastic Four (Comicverse), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: But they try, Dubious Canonicity, F/M, Getting into Peter's head, Johnny Storm is freaking oblivious, Johnny Storm is oblivious, Kinda?, LITERALLY, M/M, Mind Reading, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Sue knows everything, They are both just idiots in love, kind of, peter parker is oblivious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-03-27 12:31:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19012963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirl_Disaster/pseuds/Fangirl_Disaster
Summary: After a fight gone wrong, the Fantastic Four learn more about Peter. Just not in the way that he wants.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!! I had an idea of where Peter gets some sort of spell put on him, where all of his memories (at least the important ones) good or bad, are shown. And I loved the idea of the Four finding out. So... yeah. Hopefully it works out. 
> 
> Also, quick side note, I haven't read any of the comics yet. (I'm planning on going to the library this weekend to see if they have any, cause I can't afford to buy them. I'm broke). But I have spent way too long reading as many Spideytorch fanfics that I possibly could, so I'm vaguely aware of the the characters. And I used the MCU Peter Parker, probably with a lot of mistakes and incorrect facts. And I'm most likely to include some comic Peter info, because there are some awesome scenes in there!! I'm going to try my hardest to stay canon, but it actually is really hard. So please forgive me if all of this is completely wrong. And I used the Fantastic Four from the comics, so... in total, very, very dubious canon. I hope you enjoy and don't completely hate it!

Peter knew two things for certain. One, Aunt May’s cherry pie was to die for. Two, the Fantastic Four might well be the death of him. Specifically, Johnny Storm. He could not handle another day of him. What with his ego, his fame, his money, the fact that the city loved him, his killer abs…. Yeah okay, maybe Peter was petty. But it wasn’t fair! No one should be allowed to have a body like that as well as having other good qualities. There had to be some rule written down, ‘ _Thou shall not combine the abs with the good personality’._ It was outrageous, it was a scandal! Peter had a half mind of going out there and starting a riot. _Hmm… I wonder how many people I could get to join me? Maybe-_

“Spidey, look out!”

Peter leaped out of the way as a huge boulder came hurtling towards him.

“You okay dude?” Johnny was hovering next to him.

Peter gritted his teeth.

“I’m just dandy thank you.”

“Did you just say dandy in a sentence? Surely that’s illegal!”

“Shut up flame brain.”

Johnny laughed, diving out of the way of another boulder. Peter liked his laugh. Peter liked a lot of things about Johnny. Maybe he should tell him that? He wondered what Johnny would do if Peter just walked up to him, pushed him against a wall and- Ok no. No, nuh-uh. Not going there. Spandex did not hide anything.

 

Peter hadn’t realised that he’d zoned out until he saw something large and grey, moving at what seemed to be the speed of light. He moved without thinking, narrowly avoiding another huge rock aimed right for where he’d been crouched. _Where the hell is this guy getting all these rocks from?_

Peter rubbed his forehead, trying to get himself to concentrate. _Pay attention!_

Johnny flew past him again.

“Are you sure you’re okay Spidey? You’re acting kinda odd right now.”

“I’m fine. It’s just… You’re just really distracting.” _Wait… No._ He did not mean to say that.

Johnny snickered. “Oh yeah? I’m just a distraction to you? Is that all you think of our friendship? That I’m a pretty light for you to look at?”

Peter blinked a few times. _Johnny couldn’t be that thick, could he?_ “More like a nightlight, I reckon.”

“Why a nightlight.”

“Because all the parents can’t wait till you’re gone, and the children love to reach out to you.”

“Hey!” Johnny shot a flame towards where Peter was perched. “Rude.”

“I’m rude?” Peter dodged another rock. “You’re the one who tried to make me a fried spider!”

The villain was glaring at them, Sue, Ben and Reed trying to hold him off.

“So, who are we fighting?”

Johnny looked at Peter weirdly. “What do you mean? You were the one who literally shouted into the sky: _It’s Rockman everyone, run!_ ”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did.”

“I definitely didn’t because if I had, I would have come up with a much cooler name for him.”

“Please,” Johnny grinned, “don’t lie to me. You would have come up with some awful puns.”

“It’s sedimentary, my dear Watson.”

“No! Shut up!”

Peter laughed. “It’s too late! Do you want to hear some more rock puns? Just give me a moment, I’ll _dig_ them up!”

“I’m begging you to shut up.”

“Why did the tectonic plates break up? It wasn’t her fault, but there was just too much friction between them.”

“Spidey, what did I ever do to deserve this torture?”

“You should stop taking me for granite.”

Johnny looked to be on the verge of setting Peter on fire. Then, his saviour arrived, in the form of one Sue Storm.

“Spider-Man, I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but we could really use some help.” She fixed her gaze on her brother. “You too, Johnny. And after we need you _both_ to come back to the Baxter Building.”

“What! Why?” Peter couldn’t help himself. “Is it something about to, _rock,_ this world?”

“Spidey, for the love of all things in this world, will you shut up!”

“Make me.” Peter really needed to find a way to gag himself. _Shut up you idiot._

Sue’s eyes were flickering back and forth between them, before they widened slightly in understanding. Peter silently begged her to say quiet. For once, luck appeared to be on his side. Sue merely gave Peter a wink, before flying off.

“What was that about?” Johnny asked.

Peter lied. “I have absolutely no idea.”

Johnny shrugged. “Huh. Oh well then.” Then he flamed back on and flew after his sister.

_How can one person be so freaking oblivious?_

“Stupid Johnny Storm.” Peter muttered, before swinging after them.

 

 

Everything had been going pretty well, until Peter was blown out of the sky. He hadn’t seen or felt it coming, this entire fight, his spidey-sense had been eerily quiet. Usually, he couldn’t get it to stop irritating him. But in the middle of a fight, where insane villains in spandex were ditching rocks at Peter, with the intent to hurt him, it would have been quite useful to have some warning. And it hadn’t even been a rock that hit it. It was some sort of weird light thing.

“Spidey!” Johnny stumbled to the ground, flaming off as he landed. “Spidey, are you okay? What happened? Where are you hurt?” Peter could see Sue landing gracefully beside her brother, and in the corner of his eye, Reed and Ben were finishing off the villain.  
“Spider-Man. Can you talk?”

Peter groaned softly, his hands reaching up to grasp his head. “It hurts, May.”

Sue and Johnny shared a look. Sue crouched down next to him. “My name isn’t May, Spider-Man. Do you remember who I am?”

Peter felt fuzzy everywhere. He couldn’t control his mouth anymore. “May, where are my parents? Where did they go? Why aren’t they coming home? May, please, I’m scared. I want my parents!”

Peter saw Reed and Ben make their way over to them.

“What’s wrong with him?” Reed asked.

“I don’t know. I think he’s hallucinating or something.”

Peter clutched his head and screamed through his teeth. He could hear a voice in his head, quiet and deadly.

_“Don’t they need to know the truth, Peter?”_

Peter gasped. He fixed his eyes on Johnny, putting all of his energy into controlling his own words. But it was useless. “Can’t control yourself Norman?” Peter screamed again, and felt a sob began to build in his throat. “Please! Help me! I’m down here, I’m stuck, please somebody help!”

_“Hm… how about we show them? How does that sound Peter? You know, some people learn better when they see.”_

Johnny’s face was blurring in front of him. Peter reached out his hand and tapped out a pattern, over and over again.

_R.U.N._

Peter saw Reed’s face light up in recognition.

“Sue…”

Sue looked down to where Peter was tapping out the letters. She shared a look with Reed, before a stubborn expression came over her face, one that was awfully similar to her brother’s.  
“I don’t think so, Spider-Man. Not without you.” She turned back around to face the others. “We need to get back to the Baxter Building, stat.”

The team moved instantly. Johnny flamed on and flew back towards the Baxter Building faster than Peter could blink. Ben reached down, picking up Peter, before Sue made some sort of force field to lift him in the air. Reed was probably somewhere inside the small safe bubble Sue had made, but Peter couldn’t see him.

_“Where are you going Peter? Who are you trying to hide from?”_

Peter gasped. “Please…” he managed to breathe out. “Please… leave me.”

“We’re not leaving you, Spidey. Now stay still.”

Why couldn’t they see that he wasn’t worth it? That Peter didn’t know what was going on, and there was a chance that it could come back to hurt them.

Peter felt his body be jolted violently in Ben’s arms and it was too much, his head was splitting open, he was pretty sure he had a broken rib or something and Peter felt his eyes slip closed against his will. _Leave me. Please._ But it was too late. And now he had endangered everyone, again. Peter felt the darkness surround him and he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!!! Apologies for the short chapter. Also, just so you know, my life has been pretty insane lately, school has been killing me, and I have some horrible stuff going on in my personal life, so if I don't update regularly, or have huge breaks in between chapters, please forgive me. But stuff like comments and kudos really inspire me, and I read every single comment I get. It always makes my day, and sometimes when I'm feeling really bad, I'll go back and look over all of them. So yeah. That's my awkward way of saying, PLEASE COMMENT!!! Even just keyboard smashing is great. It makes me laugh. Okay, this is going on too long, so I'm going to shut up now. 
> 
> GOODBYE MY SWEET CHINCHILLAS!!! (My English teachers is constantly saying this to us. If you don't know what they are, google them. You won't regret it).
> 
> EDIT 02/06/19 Went over the first chapter and fixed up a few mistakes I found. Also changed the description thanks to a comment. I'M OWNING IT NOW!!! (thanks for the comment btw)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!! Sorry about the wait. I'm just going to go ahead and let you read the chapter now. I hope you enjoy!!!

“Is he moving?”

“I think he’s waking up.”

“Quit staring at him like that. It’s creepy.”

 

Peter groaned and forced himself into a sitting position.

“Where am I?” he muttered.

Johnny crouched down in front of him.

“Hey, Spidey. What do you remember?”

Peter scrunched up his eyes in concentration. There had been a fight, then he’d somehow fallen from the sky, but in a lame way, not that cool way they always fell in the movies. Then he had that weird voice in his head, which was now suspiciously silent.

 “Enough.” Peter said vaguely.

“Could you try to be more specific? Like, maybe add in a detail or two?”

Peter rolled his eyes.

“I remember the fight with Rockman-”

“That is a disgraceful name.” Johnny interrupted. Peter glared at him and continued speaking.

“-then I remember being hit out of the air, and someone’s voice was in my head and then I blacked out and now I’m here.”

“Wait, back up a second.” Sue crouched next to her brother. “Did you say there was a voice in your head?”

Peter nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

“Did you recognise it from anywhere?”

“No. It wasn’t familiar to me in any way. But-”

Johnny interrupted again. “What did they say? The voice I mean.”

Peter silently debated what to say. Finally, he decided on being as vague as possible and hope for the best. _Surely something had to go right once in a while._

“They mentioned something about…. _showing_ you guys. Said that some people learnt best through sight or something along those lines. The usual villain monologues.”

“Spider-Man… Most villains don’t pop into your head for a friendly little chat or show and tell.”

“Really?” Peter faked a gasp, “That is disgraceful treatment! I feel sorry for you, Susan. You’re really missing out on some quality tea parties! Maybe you should tell the people you guys fight to step up their game a bit.”

“Okay. Two things. One, don’t ever call me Susan again, got it?” Peter gulped slightly. Sue was terrifying sometimes. “Two,” she turned back to face her brother, “he’s good as new. Look at him! He’s acting completely normal.”

Johnny bit his lip. “Reed? What do you think?”

“Reed?” Peter broke in. He turned around to see Ben and Reed standing behind him. “When did you guys get here?”

Ben frowned and glanced to Reed, who just shrugged.

“We’ve been here the entire time.”  
“But I can’t feel you…” Peter trailed off.

“Um… what?”

“What?”

Been looked like he was about to throw up.

“You said you couldn’t _feel_ me. As in, you usually could _feel_ me.”

Peter made a half-hearted shrug. “My spidey-sense normally lets me know when people are… hanging over me. Mostly it is when they mean to hurt me. Sometimes it goes off for little things. Puddles. Maybe it thinks the puddle could drown me?”

The others gaped at Peter. Had he said something wrong?

“What?”

Ben cleared his throat. “Why didn’t you tell us? How could you possibly handle that? Doesn’t it drive you mad?”

Peter shrugged, “Ever since the spider bite, it’s like my senses have been dialled up to eleven.”

Johnny opened his mouth to say something but was cut off as Peter screamed again in pain. His vision swam dangerously, the world going white for a few seconds.

“Spidey?”

Peter sucked in a deep breath; his throat hoarse. He blinked a few times rapidly. _Am I dreaming?_

“Spidey, what are you looking at…” Johnny trailed off.

 

In the centre of the room, there was a young woman, with brown hair in curls, who was swaying back and forth, a baby in her arms. The figures were misty, as if made from smoke. Solid enough to see but faded around the corners.

 

Peter dragged himself up to his feet. _It’s not possible…_

 

Another figure appeared suddenly, seemingly out of thin air. This man had wire rimmed glasses and messy brown hair. He saw the woman in the centre of the room, and made his way over to her, his entire face lighting up as he got closer.

 

Peter took a step backwards at the same time as the Four stepped forwards.

“How did you get in here?” Sue questioned. The people didn’t respond. The man wrapped his arms around the lady holding the child, and slowly they began to dance together. The lady laughed, her voice like tinkling bells. Peter recognised her laugh, from the few faint memories he still held from the time so long ago.

 

“Mum.” Peter whispered, “Dad.”

Reed frowned at Peter. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”

Peter shook his head. “No, no, nothing.”

“Do you know who these people are?” Sue’s voice was soft, as if she could see how close Peter was to breaking. _It had been so long…_ _Pull yourself together Peter._

“Yes and no.” Peter decided that it would only be a matter of time before they figured it out. “I met these people. A few times. But it was years ago.” Peter was amazed at how calm his voice seemed.

“Well then who are they?” Ben glanced at the figures, before returning his attention to Peter.

Peter took a deep breath. “They are Richard and Mary Parker. Peter Parker’s parents.” Boy it was weird referring to himself in the third person. “And they have been dead for over ten years.”

The Four all gasped, and if it had been in different circumstances, Peter would have made some crack about how they were like a TV show audience. But it was taking all of Peter’s self-control not to break down right now, in front of them all. _Why is this happening?_

_“I told you, Peter. I was going to show them. Show them everything.”_

“Please…” Peter croaked out.

Johnny turned to face him, alarmed. “Spidey, what’s wrong?”

Peter forced himself to met Johnny’s eyes. “Please, go.” When Johnny frowned Peter tried to explain again. “Leave. I don’t want you to see this.”

“But-”

“I said leave!” Peter hated himself the second he saw the hurt flash across Johnny’s face. _That’s all I ever do. Hurt people._

Johnny turned away, making his way towards the door. Then suddenly he stumbled back, falling to the floor.

“Johnny?” Sue ran over to help her brother back up, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” Johnny said slowly. “There’s something here. Something stopping us from getting out.”

 

Peter felt his heart drop. _Stupid goddamn Parker Luck strikes again._

“How are we supposed to get out of here then?” Ben asks no one in particular.

 _“You don’t.”_  
This time, the voice sounded different, as if it were actually there, instead of being just something inside of Peter’s head.

“Who is that?” Johnny yelled out. Ok then, so this time everyone heard it. _Great, just great._

_“It does not matter who I am. All that matters is that you do as I say, and the you can go along and continue on with your boring little lives.”_

“And what would that be?” Sue’s voice was icy cold.

 _“Oh, don’t worry. It won’t require too much effort on your part. All I need you to do is watch. Just watch and learn, so you know exactly who the little **creature** ,” _The voice spat out the last word, as if it was dirty, _“-is. Inside and out. So, enjoy. It’s time for Spider-Man to start telling his story.”_

  
The Four turned back to look at the figures in the middle of the room, still dancing together, with no idea what was going on in the world around them. No idea what was to become of them. They all looked back to Peter, who was standing deadly still. Peter couldn’t meet their eyes.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered. “It’s too late now.”

The room exploded with light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for continuing to read this!!! I'm researching as much as I can for this, but there are so many conflicting facts, so I sort of am just picking and choosing, and occasionally just outright making up stuff up to fit what I wanna write.
> 
> Also, I'm really sorry about the short chapter, but I decided I just wanted to get something out. I might do another chapter today, but it really depends. Anyway, thanks so much for reading this and I hope you like where this is going. Until I finally get around to updating again, BYE!!!
> 
> (Quick last note. PLEASE COMMENT!!! Every time I get a new comment it inspires me to keep writing! So tell me what you think!!!! Okay, I'm actually leaving now. Bye!!)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyy  
> This is really, really, really short, but I decided that it worked best as it's own chapter, before I got into the actual story. I'm hoping to post the next chapter later on today, but I'll have to see how I go.
> 
> Also just quickly for future reference, whenever a character's name is in bold, it means that they're part of the memory. All the names that are normal are actually there. (It just made it a little clearer to understand).   
> *EDIT 19/06/19* I changed that thanks to a comment because it was a pain to constantly bold and unbold everything, and I'm really lazy. Sooo.... ignore this.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the really short chapter!

The figures in the centre of the room faded away, replaced by a new scene. Peter could see himself, he looked about four in this memory, sitting in his father’s lap. His father was picking him up and tossing him up and down, the young version of Peter’s laughter filling the room.  
Johnny leaned towards where Peter was stood. “Um… no offence Spidey, but how exactly is a little kid related to you?”  
They all turned to look at Johnny, who stared blankly back. “What?”  
“Seriously baby brother?” Sue sighed.  
“Firstly, stop calling me that. Secondly, I don’t get it?”  
Peter interrupted before Sue could yell at her brother for being an idiot. “Because what’s showing are my memories. That kid is me.”  
“Wait what?” Johnny spun around to focus back on young Peter. “Huh. You were a cute kid.”  
“Thanks?”  
“But how did they get the memories in the first place?”  
“John- Wait. Actually, that’s a good point. How did they get your memories?” Reed looked to Peter in confusion.  
“Who knows? Some weird magic trick? I don’t know. Can we just get this over with?”  
Johnny paused for a moment. “Spidey… if these are your memories, won’t they show your… you know, secret identity?”   
“Yeah well… I don’t see any way out of it. And if any of you tell a freaking soul, I know exactly where you live, and I will come into your rooms at night and kill every single one of you.”  
“You wouldn’t be able to get past y safe guards anyway.” Reed shrugged.  
“Try me.”  
Sue stepped in. “Okay, okay. We get it. We all swear we will protect your identity, okay? I know you keep it because you have people you care about. I swear that I will help protect them.”  
Johnny nodded. “I swear too Spidey. You can trust me.”  
Ben grunted in agreement. “Of course, bug. I’ll look after ya.”  
“I will help you to protect them Spider-Man.” Reed said solemnly.  
“See,” Sue grinned, “we’ll keep you and your family safe.”  
“Thank you…” Peter said shocked. He never expected to have so much support from the Four. 

The scene changed again, drawing the groups attention back to it. Peter felt Johnny quickly squeeze his arm, before pulling back away. Peter smiled gratefully, hoping that Johnny could see it from behind the mask. The he turned back to face the scene beginning to play in front of him. No more hiding. Now he had to let them see what made Peter who he was. He glanced at them one more time. Will they still like who they find?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay!!! Hope you liked it. I'm going to try and finish off the next one now. 
> 
> Bye!!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I got a second chapter out today!!!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“Wait!” Sue spun round, her face deathly pale. “You said… oh my god. Spider-Man I’m so sorry.” She launched herself forwards, wrapping Peter up in an embrace. “I can’t believe… oh it’s so obvious now!” She lowered her voice so only Peter could hear her. “I’m so sorry Peter. I’m so sorry I never… I’m sorry you went through all that. I was blind not to see it.” Sue pulled back again, and Peter could see, much to his horror, her eyes were starting to water. She wiped at them furiously.

“Hey, it’s okay Sue. It is called a secret identity for a reason. How were you meant to know?” He gave her a lopsided smile which she returned.

“I’m adopting you now, okay?” Peter opened his mouth to argue but she shut him up with a glare. “No arguing.”

“Yes mum.”

“Good. Very good.” She winked at him before turning back to face the scene, leaving the rest of the Four extremely confused.

“Okay…” Ben shrugged. “Hey, why is this thing not changing? No offence squirt, but I can only listen to baby you laughing for so long.”

 _“You must be paying full attention before we can go on.”_ The stupid voice was back.

Ben let out a long-suffering sigh, before saying, “Fine! I’m paying attention now! Happy?”

The voice didn’t reply, but the scene changed into something different.

 

The younger Peter was about six in the scene, and he was held in his mother’s arms.

“You’re going to be staying with Uncle Ben and Aunt May, okay sweetheart? Just while we are away. We’ll be back before you know it!”

 

Peter sucked in a breath. _Great, just great. Starting from the good stuff._

 

Mary pressed a soft kiss to hologram-Peter’s forehead. Richard ruffled Peter’s hair.

“See you soon kiddo. Love you.”

The young Peter grinned back; gap toothed.

“Love you too Daddy! Love you Mummy!”

A far younger looking Aunt May and Uncle Ben appeared in the corner of the image, taking Peter out of his mother’s arms. The three of them were waving at Peter’s parent’s retreating forms, before the scene blurred and changed again.

Young Peter was sitting on Uncle Ben’s lap, quietly watching the TV. Then Aunt May rushed in, teats forming in her eyes.

“Ben…” she whispered. “Ben, the plane. It’s.. They’re… Oh Ben!”

Aunt May wrapped up both her husband and Peter in her arms, before bursting into tears. Uncle Ben looked worried but rubbed reassuring circles into Aunt May’s back.

“What’s happened?”

 

Peter sucked in a deep breath. It had been so long since he’d heard Uncle Ben speak. HE blinked rapidly to avoid crying. _Not here, not now._

Aunt May was speaking, her voice muffled against Uncle Ben’s shirt.

“Ben. Mary and Richard… Their plane. Their plane crashed! They’re gone Ben. They’re gone.”

Uncle Ben went pale. “No… They can’t be.”

“I’m so sorry, Ben. I’m so sorry.”

Uncle Ben was shaking. “But what about Peter? What are we going to do with… What is going to happen to him?”

“He’s ours now Ben. Mary told me that she wanted us to look after him if anything happened.”

Uncle Ben took a deep breath, as if to calm himself. Then he slowly moved the vision’s version of Peter so he was cushioned between him and Aunt May.

“I guess it’s the three of us now kid. We’ve got you. We’ve got you.”

 

 

The scene slowly faded away, leaving the area in front of them empty. Peter sat down on the floor, hard. He slowly let his head fall into his hands, gulping in huge breaths of air to calm himself. He hadn’t known his parents too well; he had still been so young. But they were gone, and they had been his parents, and he missed them. Or at least, he missed the life that he could have had. He missed his Uncle Ben, who after seeing him again for mere seconds made him want to burst into tears. Distantly, Peter could see Sue and Johnny crouching down on either side of him, and Ben and Reed standing awkwardly in the background.

The voice began speaking again.

_“I’ll allow you a few moments to calm yourself. You may leave this room, but when your time is up, you will be transported back. Do not try to abuse the privilege you have been given.”_

“Pretentious asshole.” Johnny muttered.

Reed attempted to walk past the boundaries that had been previously set, upon finding he could, he looked to Sue, as if to ask what to do. Sue looked to Peter, then to her brother and seemed to come to a decision.

“Reed, Ben, come with me. Let’s give them some privacy.” The three of them left the room, leaving Johnny and Peter alone.

 

 

Johnny carefully placed his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Peter?” His voice was soft. “You’re Peter aren’t you? Peter Parker.” Johnny let out a small huff of air. “I should have realised.”

Peter looked up at Johnny. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“No, you’re not. And you shouldn’t be. I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have stopped you from getting hit by that beam of light, then none of this would be happening.”

“It’s not your fault Johnny.”

“Well, it feels like it is.”

 

 

They sat there in silence for a few moments, before Johnny spoke again.

“Can I see? Your face? With the suit. I… I don’t know if I can believe it until I’ve seen.”

Peter nodded, and gently reached up to grip the bottom of his mask, slowly pulling it off. He lowered his eyes.

Johnny made a weird choking sound. _Was he really that ugly?_ Peter moved to put the mask back on, but Johnny reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Wait… Leave it off.” At Peter’s look of surprise, he quickly backtracked. “Or not, if you don’t want to. I don’t mind.”

Peter smiled softly. “Okay.” He let the mask drop down to the floor.

Johnny but his lip nervously. “I’m sorry. About your parents. I-”

“It’s fine. Don’t apologise.”

Johnny nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

Peter gazed at Johnny for a while, losing himself in his bright blue eyes. Then Johnny broke the silence, _again._

“Wait. Are you saying that this entire time you’ve been taking selfies of yourself and selling them for cash?”

Peter groaned, his head falling back into his hands.

“All those times you said you were friends with Spider-Man. Those freaking bruises you got! How you- Bloody hell! You’ve… Your…” Johnny yelped in horror. “Every time I told you about the-”

“The what?”

Johnny lowered his voice. “The… The cute photographer.” He looked down to the floor, his face bright red.

“What about them?” Peter frowned. “Wait. Is it someone I know? Someone I work with! You think one of the people I work with is cute?” Great. Just Peter’s luck. Johnny had a crush on one of his co-workers.

Johnny looked at Peter incredulously. “You can’t possibly be that dense…”

“So, you _don’t_ have a crush on my co-workers?”

Johnny opened his mouth and let out a silent scream, smashing his head against the couch.

“Johnny, are you okay? Look, I promise I won’t tell them about it.”

Johnny turned back to Peter, as if to say something, before a bright light blinded them, and suddenly Ben, Reed and Sue appeared back in the room.

Johnny sighed; it was clear the conversation was over.

“Okay then, since we might be here for a little while, we might as well get comfortable.

_“Maybe this will help.”_

Another couch appeared, as well as two armchairs. Sue instantly sat down in one armchair, and Reed took the other. Ben took up the whole new couch, leaving Peter and Johnny to the other couch. Somehow, in the span of a few seconds the chair seemed to have gotten smaller. Peter eyed it suspiciously. Johnny just shrugged, and sat down, Peter collapsing next to him.

 

No one commented on Peter not wearing his mask, though he did notice Sue give Johnny a look which he couldn’t understand. Peter sighed, relaxing into the couch.

“Well, at least that stupid voice guy is good for something.”

Johnny smiled faintly. “Yeah. I guess.”

They looked back to the centre of the room, where a new scene was beginning to form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know Peter complains about Johnny being oblivious, but really. This was actually so much fun to write, especially the end part. I hope that the style for the memories wasn't too bad.
> 
> Anyway, tell me what you think!!! And I'll try to update again soonish.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!!!  
> See you soon!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I actually sat down and started writing this, and didn't stop till I had finished the chapter! I hope you enjoy!!!! (Also, warning. This one is a sad chapter)

The weird kind of fog began to spread across the centre of the room again, forming a new image.

_“Some of these memories will go fast. Some will take time. After all, in the end, time is the only thing you need.”_

Ben glared up at the ceiling, “Hey, roof guy. Can you shut it with the stupid omens of doom or whatever the hell you are on about? We have other places to be okay?”

_“Actually, while you are watching, all time will be frozen. Do not worry. You won’t be missed while you’re gone.”_

“What kind of being has the power to stop time?” Reed muttered.

Peter shrugged, “I can think of a few. But none that would do this.”

Reed opened his mouth as if to launch into questions about these people, but Peter was thankfully saved from the interrogation as the new scene began to play. They passed fast, like flashes of light.

 

The younger Peter was spinning around in circles, laughing his head off, Aunt May and Uncle Ben watching him, with huge grins on their faces.

 

The next image appeared, Uncle Ben giving young Peter a piggy back, and they were sprinting through a park, Aunt May relaxing on a picnic blanket.

 

It was Peter’s first day at his new school, he was standing there, in far too big clothes, watching as all these huge figures moved past him. The younger Peter cowered slightly, backing away towards the door, ready to sprint out. Then another person stepped in his way.

 

The real-life Peter heard himself gasp as he saw the young version of his friend appear. It seemed like forever since he’d seen him this small. It might well have been.

 

The young version of Ned grinned, extending his arm for Peter to shake.

“Hi! I’m Ned Leeds! I’m ten years old and six months! It’s nice to meet you!”

Ned spoke fast, as if he was racing to get the words out.

The younger Peter beamed back at the boy, his eyes shining behind the large frames of his glasses.

“Hi Ned! I’m Peter. Parker. Peter Parker! It’s nice to meet you too.” Peter cautiously accepted Ned’s outstretched hand, then shook it firmly.

“Friends?” Ned asked.

Peter nodded back solemnly, “Friends.”

 

The image blurred, then the flashes continued, almost too fast for Peter to see.

 

A young-looking Flash sneered in the young Peter’s direction, yelling out insults to him through the corridors.

 

The holographic Peter was sitting in Ned’s bedroom, building Lego with him.

 

Ned and Peter began putting together a secret handshake, constantly messing it up, but laughing and starting again.

Peter was helping Uncle Ben repaint the wall, making a huge mess everywhere.

 

Aunt May smacked Peter’s tiny hand away from where it was sneaking towards a plate of freshly baked cookies.

 

Ned and Peter lagged behind while the class was running laps, the young version of Peter breathing heavily, a puffer in hand.

 

Ned was yelling for a teacher as Peter had an asthma attack, his hands clawing at his throat, desperate for air.

 

Peter sitting alone in his room, going over his notes from chemistry.

 

Peter making faces as Aunt May and Uncle Ben waltzed together in the living room.

 

Aunt May and Uncle Ben worrying over the bills, while the small Peter peered through the crack in the door, watching them worriedly.

 

Uncle Ben teaching Peter how to fly a kite in the park.

 

Aunt May helping Peter feed the ducks at the pond.

 

Flash and his stupid goons yelling at Peter, one of them tripping him over, and knocking he air out of his lungs. They all crowded around over him, jeering. Peter’s face could only just be made out, already bruised and beaten, tears pouring down his face as he screamed for them to stop. To leave him alone.

 

More images and scenes swam past, forming, then blurring and disappearing near instantly afterwards. Each one hit Peter like a truck. Reminding him of times long past. He forced himself to try and regulate his breathing, but he couldn’t. A rogue tear escaped his watering eyes. Peter silently begged for the Four to not notice. But just his luck, they all did. Ben and Sue shared a helpless look, and Reed looked mildly sick. Johnny… Peter couldn’t let himself look at Johnny, scared at what he might find there. Disappointment? Disgust? Shame at the fact that the _‘Amazing Spider-Man’_ wasn’t so great after all?

 

Peter felt a hand slowly grip his. He glanced towards Johnny cautiously.

 

Johnny’s expression wasn’t of disgust, but one of grief. He squeezed Peter’s hand tightly. Then his finger tapped against the back of Peter’s hand. Peter blinked at him. _Did he know…_

Johnny tapped out the pattern again. And again. He tapped it out, over and over. Peter found himself no longer concentrating on the scenes playing out in front of him. He made himself focus on the boy next to him.

_I.   A. M. H. E. R. E.      I.    A. M.    H. E. R. E.       I.    A. M.    H. E. R. E._

Peter met Johnny’s blue eyes. Johnny tilted his head slightly to the side.

_Do you understand?_

Peter nodded back.

_I do._

Peter squeezed Johnny’s hand back, just as tightly as before. Johnny continued tapping out the message, and Peter let himself turn back to the scene in front of them, feeling stronger than before. Peter wondered distantly where Johnny had learnt Morse Code, but he decided to wait and ask him again another time.

 

The rest of the Four stayed silent, not commenting on the fact Peter was clutching onto Johnny’s hand like his life depended on it.

 

Peter could feel Johnny’s eyes on him, but he kept facing forwards. He just had to get through this. Then it would be over. Johnny squeezed Peter’s hand again, tapping out a new message.

_A. R. E. Y. O. U. O. K. A. Y._

Peter didn’t reply. He had to be strong. He couldn’t break, he couldn’t break, he couldn’t break. He could feel Johnny’s hand slacken in his. Peter bit his lip. When the new scenes showed, and Johnny saw who he really was. The things he’d done… _Johnny will hate me._

 

Peter sucked in a deep breath. There was only one choice to stop himself from hurting them all. From them hurting him. Everyone who gets close to him gets hurt… Peter snatched his hand out of Johnny’s, ignoring the choked sound that came from Johnny’s throat when he did. Peter shifted on the couch, so he was as far away as possible from the other boy.

 

Peter’s whole body screamed for him to take it back, to let Johnny help him. _To be safe._ Peter shuddered. _No! IT’S BETTER THIS WAY!_

He saw Sue’s face close up, growing cold. Because of what he had done to her brother.

_It’s better this way!_

Ben glared at Peter. Because he had hurt Johnny.

_It’s better this way._

Reed looked disappointed. Peter had let them down again.

_It’s better this way…_

Peter quickly glanced in Johnny’s direction, seeing the pain written all over his face. Pain because of Peter.

_It’s better this…_

Peter felt as if he was about to scream, his whole body urged him to go back to Johnny.

_It’s better…_

He looked back at the scene, and saw Uncle Ben there, Peter sat in his lap. Uncle Ben was dead. Because of him.

_It’s…_

Peter made up his mind. He forced himself to hide his emotions away, and put up a mask, devoid of emotion. He let his expression go blank and fixed his gaze back to the scene playing out in front of him. His face seemingly unfeeling, his mind a mess of pain and regret.

_It’s better this way._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ARGH! PETER WHY DO YOU DO THIS?!?!?!?! Honestly, when I started writing this chapter, I had all intentions of having Peter let Johnny help him and then they would end up in this huge cuddle and everything would be happy. But then..... that happened. I swear I didn't mean to!!! *cowers slightly* Please forgive me.... Peter has a mind of his own. 
> 
> Also, I was considering having the next couple of chapters in Johnny's perspective. Would anyone be interested in that? If so, please let me know. If not.... well still. Let me know. (In case you haven't noticed yet, I am desperate for comments. PLEASE COMMENT!!!!!!!!)
> 
> Okay then, I'll go now. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny's point of view, finally!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY!!! I'M NOT DEAD!!!

Johnny knew two things for certain. One, Sue was the best sister ever, not that he would ever tell her that. Two, Peter Parker would be the death of him.

 

_It wasn’t fair._

That applied to most things in Johnny’s life. His parents dying, his dad being an asshole, him getting powers, which admittedly, were pretty cool, but made it impossible to have a normal life. His stutter, which rarely came up nowadays, but every time it did, he felt stupid and useless. And his moronic, foolish crush on his best friend, Spider-Man. And his interest in Peter Parker, the photographer, and then the fact that they both were the same person. To some people, it might have made things easier, ‘ _oh look, that’s convenient for you, the two people you happen to be in love with are actually the same person. Isn’t life great?’._ But Johnny wasn’t most people, and Peter Parker happened to be a huge, oblivious idiot, despite being insanely smart. Maybe Johnny had a thing for idiots. Whether he did or not, it made life even more difficult, as if being a teenage superhero wasn’t hard enough as it was.

 

Which led Johnny to be where he was now. Sitting on a couch, his heart slowly breaking into pieces, as his best friend, crush, superhero buddy, whatever he was to Johnny, sat stone-faced next to him. Or more accurately, as far away as possible from him.

 

 _Stupid Storm Luck._ Johnny glanced towards his sister, taking in the ring on her finger. _Stupid Johnny Storm Luck,_ he corrected himself.

 

Johnny honestly didn’t know what he had done wrong this time. He had only been trying to help. _How many times have you messed everything up by, ‘just trying to help’?_ Johnny tried to shake away the voice in his head, which to be fair was probably common sense but wasn’t exactly helping him at the moment. Just as Johnny opened his mouth to say something, _anything,_ to Peter, to try and fix his mistake, whatever that was, the goddamn stupid ceiling voice piped up again.

_“Sorry to interrupt your little meltdown moment here, but we have memories to watch. So, can you please get over yourselves and keep watching? It actually took a lot of effort for me to put all this together, so if you could have a little respect please?”_

“Asshole.” Ben muttered. Johnny couldn’t help but agree. For the thousandth time, he wished that this wasn’t happening. That none of this had happened, and instead of being stuck in some kind of time vortex where they had to watch his best friends _(‘ex best friend now’. Shut up Johnny!)_ memories and go through all of his traumatic experiences, he could be sitting on top of Lady Liberty, stuffing his face with those horrible hot dogs Peter insisted tasted good, and listening to all of Peter’s horrible puns and flirting with him, desperately trying to get him to realise, _‘no it’s not a joke, can’t you see I’m in love with you?’._ But then again, if this hadn’t happened, Johnny would have never found out that Peter Parker and Spider-Man were the same person.

 _‘He would have told me though, right?’_ Some part of Johnny doubted that. But then again, it wasn’t his decision to make. It wasn’t his secret to tell. But now this stupid voice in the roof, _‘was it even coming from the roof?’_ was making them see all of Peter’s secrets. It wasn’t fair.

_‘When has anything ever been fair? Life isn’t fair.’_

Johnny-

_“Flame brain! Pay attention!”_

Johnny startled, his eyes instinctively darting towards Peter. _‘That’s his name for me.’_ Johnny thought.

Peter’s expression flickered for a second, and Johnny swore he saw a possessive take place, before it cleared away, a bored, uninterested look returning to his face. Johnny wondered if he had imagined it.

He cleared his throat. “Don’t call me that. That’s Peter’s name for me. You don’t get to use it.” _What am I doing?_

Johnny couldn’t help but glance back towards Peter. The corner of Peter’s mouth twitched, as if he was suppressing a grin. Johnny felt suddenly proud. _He_ had done that.

Johnny looked back towards his sister who mouthed, _“You are so whipped.”_

Johnny gave her the finger and turned his gaze back to the scene unfolding before him. He would get through this, then he would take Peter aside and beg for forgiveness. _Maybe I should find out what I did wrong first?_ Either way, he would find a way to fix everything, then it could all go back to normal and maybe one day Johnny could admit that he was in love with Peter. He could already imagine how that conversation would go.

 

Johnny could feel Peter’s gaze on him but the second he turned; Peter was staring at the scene. _Oh right! The scene!_ Johnny really didn’t want to have to deal with that stupid voice guy again. _It was a guy right?_ It didn’t matter.

 

He focused back on the scene, all the while he began planning his apology to Peter. He could fix this. Johnny was not letting Peter slip away. Not again. _This is my last chance._ He thought. _I better not screw it up._

As the new scene began, Johnny felt a tiny sliver of hope begin to sneak through his body. _One last chance Johnny. Don’t waste it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!!! I'm so, so sorry about the huge gap between chapters. And I'm also really sorry about how short this was. Life has just been really hectic lately, and I've had barely enough time to sleep, much less write. The holidays have started up again, which means HOPEFULLY I will be able to get some more writing done, at least a little more consistently, but no guarantees.   
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And tell me what you think of Johnny's POV.  
> (Just a quick note, in the chapter I mentioned Johnny having a stammer, which is canonically true. I also said he hated it and it made him sound stupid, and for that, I just used my own personal experience with having a lisp. I don't actually know how he feels about it, but just personally, having a lisp makes me feel really bad sometimes, especially when I'm in public and it's really obvious).  
> Okay then, I best be off now!!! Please comment and kudos, I live off of them. And again, thanks so much for reading!!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI GUYS!!! I'm back. This chapter isn't super long, but on the plus side, it's not weeks late. Sooo.... baby steps.

The scene began to play out again.

 

Peter and Ned met eyes during band, grinning to each other before realising how difficult that was to do with an instrument in your mouth.

 

Peter was continually shown getting good grades as the marks steadily began covering the fridge.

 

Uncle Ben lay on the couch, sharing popcorn with the young Peter who was complaining about something on the TV.

 

More and more scenes passed, each one filling Johnny with a sense of helplessness. Peter had such a normal life before. He’d been so… _happy._

_Was all this taken away from him?_

 

Johnny suddenly felt horrible for ever complaining about his life to Peter.

Peter had had so much…

_How much had he lost?_

Johnny risked another glance towards Peter. He suddenly saw the little boy in the images.

It hit Johnny. Hard.

 

Of course, he had realised that the boy being shown in these scenes was Peter, but it hadn’t actually clicked until that moment.

It was _Peter._

This was his _life_ they were all seeing.

 

Johnny felt immensely guilty.

He imagined for a moment what it would be like for him if it were _his_ memories being played in front of everyone.

All of his mistakes displayed for everyone to see.

All of his private moments, the good and the bad.

Sure, maybe some of the memories he wouldn’t particularly mind other people seeing, but he would have to give them… _permission_ first. To talk to them about it, to set boundaries to make it okay.

Peter didn’t have that.

It didn’t matter, Johnny realised, what these memories showed. It didn’t matter whether or not the Four judged Peter on them, whether they cared.

No.

What _mattered_ was that this should have been _Peter’s_ choice to make, but that choice had been taken away from him.

 

Johnny felt a deep hatred rise in him for the weird force that was making them watch this. Johnny looked up and yelled, probably a little bit louder than necessary, “Hey asshole ceiling guy! Stop it! Do you think this is funny? Because it really isn’t. Do you find this entertaining? I swear when this is over I will find you and I will burn you to a crisp. Do you understand me?”

“Johnny,” Sue’s voice was full of warning.

“What?” he looked down at himself, “Oh.”

 

Johnny had begun to flame on. There were tendrils of fire, dancing around in his open palms. His arms were covered in a fiery tinge, and judging from the red tint of his vision, there were flames circling his face too.

 

Johnny closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. As irritating and horrible as this whole situation was, setting himself and the room alight probably wasn’t the best solution.

Although, it would most likely shut the roof guy up…

“Johnny, I swear,” Sue gave him a pointed look. She didn’t finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear. _Damn, she really should get and award for that. She is one terrifying human being._

“Fine,” he muttered, the flames finally dying down around him.

He happened to glance towards Peter, and saw a strange expression on his face, which quickly disappeared when he caught Johnny looking.

_Was that disgust? Is he disgusted at how I can’t even control my own powers?_

Peter swallowed hard.

 _Of course it is._ Johnny thought bitterly. _Of course he is disgusted. What else would it be? You fool Johnathan Storm. You absolute idiot._

Johnny tried to ignore Peter, instead he focused back on the scenes still playing out in front of him.

 

He’d clearly zoned out for a decent amount of time, for the Peter in this scene looked far older. While in the last scene Peter had looked about twelve, here he seemed to be nearly fourteen.

 

Peter was wandering around the halls of some sort of lab with the rest of his class. Was he on a field trip?

 

Ned was pointing something out to Peter, who was distracted, staring at another one of the students.

Why was he staring at her?

Johnny felt some strange, unfamiliar emotion bubble up inside of him.

Oh, who was he kidding? This wasn’t a new emotion. No, it was one he was all too familiar with, the one that flared up every time he saw Peter with yet another beautiful girl hanging off his arm, who he would be gazing at with the upmost affection and love. It was jealousy, plain and simple.

 

Johnny frowned at the scene, then blinked. What was that on Peter’s arm?

He concentrated, trying to make it out.

_It almost looked like…_

“A spider,” Reed breathed, “of course. So that’s how-”

“Reed sweetheart,” Sue cut in, “now is really not the time.”

Peter shot her a grateful look, which caused the jealousy to rise up again within Johnny.

_C’mon! It’s your sister Johnny! It’s not like Peter has a crush on…_

_Oh no._

 

Johnny felt his heart drop. His brain flicked back to every instance where Peter had flirted with his sister, all the jokes about running off with her, every comment he had made about the ‘Storm Looks.’

Johnny cast his mind back to a particular incident, so long ago, where he had accidently been listening in, it wasn’t _eavesdropping_ because Johnathan Storm didn’t eavesdrop on people, on a conversation Spidey had been having on the phone.

He had been ranting to this… MJ person.

“And then, it’s just… urgh. The blue eyes, the tanned skin. The freaking golden hair, god damn it! It’s unfair. No one should be allowed to be that attractive! It should be illegal.”

Peter had sensed Johnny’s presence then, and abruptly ending the phone call he had begun talking about something completely different before Johnny had time to ask what the call had been about.   
Johnny had almost completely forgotten about it until now.

But then…

 _Oh god._ Did Peter have a crush on his sister?

Johnny thought that he might just have to die if that was the case.

Sue smiled back towards Peter who slowly began to relax, a happier expression growing on his face.

Johnny suddenly wished he was dead. It all made so much _sense_ now.

Peter Parker was in love with his sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!!! Seriously, I am not trying to make Johnny such an idiot, it just happens. But to be fair, Peter is a bit of an idiot too.   
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!  
> For the first time.... EVER really, I have a vague idea of what I'm gonna do for the next chapter. I'm hoping to get the events of Civil War in, (and obviously the lead up to that with Uncle Ben's death and all that) and maybe if possible get the start of Homecoming in there. I'm not going to have all of the scenes, just the ones I can deem important.   
> But then again, there is a high chance the chapter will just end up being Johnny pining and not paying any attention to what's going on in the world around him.   
> Anyway, I'll see how it goes.  
> Quick side note, is it just me or do you imagine Johnny flaming on to be something like... super hot? Pun intended. But yeah, just in case you were wondering, that's what might have been on Peter's mind in that moment.   
> Okay then, this is going on for far too long sooo... bye!!!! Please leave kudos and comments, again I practically live off them. Thanks so much for reading!!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!! I managed to update again. School is starting up again this week, so expect updates to slow again. I'm really sorry about that but I made this chapter a little longer than usual so I hope that helps. Okay then, enjoy the update!

Johnny forced himself to pay attention to the scenes again. Each one filled him with pity for his friend. No. It wasn’t pity he was feeling. It was understanding. He understood all of the little quirks that Peter had. All of the things he had brushed off as Spidey just being weird but turned out to be something more.

 

Peter was walking home from school, a fancy car sitting outside his apartment. He walked inside, making some comment to Aunt May about the car, then stopping abruptly.

 

The real Peter froze, his entire body tense. Johnny didn’t think, instead reaching out his hand to grip Peter’s. He gave his hand a soft squeeze, ignoring how well his hand fit in Peter’s. Johnny waited for Peter to pull away, but he didn’t, instead he gripped Johnny hand back, equally tight.

 

Sitting on the couch next to the memories Aunt May was none other than Tony Stark.

“Oh, Mr Parker.” The billionaire gave him a winning smile.

The scene Peter stuttered, messing up his words. After an awkward minute or so of small talk, in which Stark said something about Peter applying for an internship – which was clearly a lie based on how Peter fumbled around trying to reply – and then moved to sit in Peter’s room for some privacy.

 

Stark offered Peter a place on his team for the Civil War and told him they were going to Germany. Johnny caught Sue’s look of outrage and horror at the fact that Stark would do such a thing to a child. Johnny felt similarly. _How could an adult allow a child to go through this? How could he bring him into this life?_

As if he could sense what they were thinking Peter cleared his throat.

“It wasn’t like that.”

 

The scene paused as the Four turned to look at Peter.

 

“What do you mean it’s not like that? It seems pretty clear to me that he was taking advantage of a child who didn’t know any better.” Sue’s voice was seemingly calm, but Johnny knew that inside she was seething. She had hated it when Johnny had joined the team, but there hadn’t been much she could do about it. Instead, Sue had enforced hundreds of rules on Johnny, all to keep him safe, but Johnny had a habit of breaking them.

Peter’s expression was furious, “it wasn’t like that. He didn’t force me into this life, he didn’t make me do anything. I was already Spider-Man, and I was always going to be Spider-Man. It wasn’t something he gave to me; it wasn’t something that he made me into. I was already like this, and I was already risking my life to help others, which I was not going to stop anytime soon. On top of all that, I was doing it in what he used to call,” Peter’s voice broke for a moment and he took a deep breath before continuing, “he used to call my onesie. It was useless and offered barely any protection at all. If anything, he helped me. He _did_ help me. He saved my life time and time again. If it wasn’t for him, I would be long dead. If it wasn’t for him, half of this universe would be dead.” Peter glared at them all, as if challenging one of them to try and argue with him. After a few moments of silence Johnny spoke.

“Okay. I get it. I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have made assumptions without knowing the full story.”

Ben and Reed mumbled apologies as well. Sue sighed.

“I’m sorry too, Spid- Peter. I shouldn’t have said that. I just remembered what it was like when this all started for the first time, and what it was like to have Johnny in the crossfire. I would have given anything for him not to have to live like this. To live this life. I would have given anything to have him be able to have a normal, boring, _ordinary_ life. And then the thought of anyone bringing someone into this, bringing a _child_ into this… I couldn’t imagine that. But as you said, he saved your life. And Tony Stark was a hero, don’t think I don’t believe it. He managed to bring my brother back.”

Peter nodded, seeming to accept their apologies. Johnny expected him to pull his hand away, but he left it there. Johnny didn’t comment on it. Maybe things would work out okay. Maybe this would be fixable. Maybe not everything was broken.

 

The next scene played without any major accidents. Peter stole Captain America’s shield, to which Johnny let out a whoop of approval, Peter smiling softly at him. The airport battle, or as Ben referred to it, the massive superhero toddler tantrum, played out epically. Johnny was silently impressed at how incredible Peter was, holding his own against a bunch of Avengers, without _any_ training. When he caught the Winter Soldier’s metal arm Ben cheered with Johnny, Peter laughing at the two of them.

 

Things were looking up, and the atmosphere had improved considerably from the sombre mood before. Then of course it had to be ruined again, War Machine being shot down, falling to the ground at an incredible speed. If he didn’t already know that he had survived, Johnny would have thought that Rhodey would be dead. But then… Johnny whirled around to face Peter.

“His legs. The braces…”

“Are because of this,” Peter sighed softly, “I know. It wasn’t fair.”

 

The memory Peter was swatted out of the sky by Ant-Man, and Ben growled.

“You just wait till I find that little ant and I will squash him like the pest he is.”

“Ben it’s okay. I’m fine, I’m fine. And it wasn’t his fault. Also, Scott is awesome, and makes the best Lego houses. We’re friends now. This is the past remember? This happened a long time ago.”

Ben grumbled an agreement not to kill Lang but muttered under his breath that the bug better watch where he stepped.

 

The airport battle wrapped up, and the scene Peter was sitting in the car with Stark and someone who had been called Happy. _That’s an odd name._

Tony Stark said something about contacting Peter if he ever needed him again, and then the car drove off, leaving Peter standing there, holding his bag. He grinned and whispered reverently, “They’re gonna call me.”

 

The real-life Peter looked away at that, muttering something that sounded like _stupid._ Johnny gripped Peter’s hand tighter, his thumb slowly rubbing circles on the back of his hand. Peter glanced to Johnny gratefully.

“The next few scenes…” Peter coughed, “They are going to be a lot worse than it has been. And um… there’s a chance that I won’t handle some parts that well. Just a warning.”

Johnny spoke without thinking, “You can lie on me.”

The whole room went silent, all of them staring at Johnny in confusion except for Sue, who rolled her eyes.

“I mean… You can lie on me or something, that might help. Because like… touch is grounding right? That way… It was a stupid idea I’m sorry. Ignore me. Just-”

“No!” Peter flushed slightly, “I mean, no. That would be nice, it could be… useful. I’ll…”

Peter slowly moved so he was next to Johnny, then carefully inched his head towards Johnny’s shoulder. Ben tried to cover his snort with a cough, and Sue let her head drop into her hands, whispering something about how painful this was to watch.

Finally, Johnny couldn’t handle it, and he brought his legs up onto the couch, and gently rested his head onto Peter’s shoulder, letting Peter rest his own on top. Burrowing in he ignored how desperately he wanted this, how much he wished he could do this all the time. Peter slowly relaxed as well, and Johnny could hear his heart beat slow down. Peter gently lifted his hand up and rest it in Johnny’s hair, beginning to stroke it, playing with Johnny’s curls. It took all of Johnny’s willpower not to make any embarrassing noises, because he was certain his family would never let him live it down.

 

Ben grinned wickedly, pulling out his phone, snapping a quick photo. Johnny reached out his hand and stuck up his middle finger, to which Ben roared with laughter. Snuggling back down, Johnny turned his head, so that he was facing where the scenes played out.

 

Johnny felt as if he were about to fall asleep. For the first time in… a long while, Johnny felt completely and utterly safe. He knew that whatever happened next, Peter would look after him. Although he wasn’t defenceless, it was a nice feeling. The sense of being safe and protected. He felt his eyes flutter for a moment, before he forced himself to focus again. He couldn’t pass out here, he had to stay awake, so they could get through these memories, and maybe have a proper chat with Peter about… _everything_. Johnny watched as a new scene began to form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!!! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm finally up to Homecoming. Also apologies for the cuddling at the end, I just felt that they both deserved it. 
> 
> Oh, completely unrelated, but while writing this chapter I got stuck imagining whether or not Ben would have a phone. Does he have a custom made one? Won't he break them constantly? How do his fingers even fit the buttons? Anyway, I searched for answers and found none so if anyone knows I would love to find out!
> 
> As always, kudos and comments keep me alive, so please tell me what you think!!! And thank you so much for reading!!! See you next time!!!


	9. Chapter 9

The scene formed again. Johnny snuggled closer to Peter as the other boy took in deep breaths to calm himself. Peter smiled gratefully at Johnny who turned his attention back to the scene in front of them.

 

Peter was swinging around Queens. Johnny took a moment to appreciate all of the tiny acts Peter did to help everyone.

 

He gave an old lady directions for where to go. He stopped someone from stealing a bike, and when no one came to claim it, he attached a note onto it.

 

Peter did hundreds of other little acts to help everyone.

 

Johnny finally understood what Peter meant by helping out the little guy. The Avengers or the Fantastic Four would never stop to help these people, it wasn’t their job. Instead they stopped alien level threats, _huge_ things that saved hundreds of thousands of people. But Peter managed to save everyone in his own way. He managed to help people who would otherwise have to deal with it all alone. Peter really was a hero.

 

The scene cut back to show Peter sitting in class, daydreaming and watching videos of himself as Spider-Man.

 

Johnny couldn’t help but snort at that, and Peter glared at him.

“At least I don’t have posters of myself on my wall.”

Johnny grinned back, “At least I don’t spend hours during school watching YouTube videos of myself.”

Peter rolled his eyes good naturedly and they both turned back to the image.

 

Peter answered some question about science mumbo jumbo to which Johnny let out an impressed whistle, and Peter smacked him over the head.

“It wasn’t that difficult a question Flamebrain,”

 

Peter went out for dinner with Aunt May, and sheepishly asked for a new backpack.

Sue laughed, “How many backpacks do you go through Spider-Man?”

Peter grinned, “Too many,”

 

It continued on the same way, the Peter in the scene going through his life, while the real-life version of them all made jokes and asked about random things.

Johnny could feel Peter relaxing and heard his heart-rate slow. _This is nice._ He thought.

 

The scene switched to show Peter climbing into his apartment through the window, crawling across the roof and gently pulling the door shut. There was the sound of smashing as the vision version of Peter whirled around.

 

The Peter that Johnny was lying on groaned, burying his face into him. Johnny wasn’t about to complain. _I could get used to this._

 

In the scene, a young Ned gaped at Peter, the broken pieces of what used to be a Lego Death Star scattered across the floor.

“You’re… you’re Spider-Man!”

The scene shifted to one of Ned interrogating Peter on his abilities, and Johnny couldn’t help but laugh at Peter’s obvious discomfort. Both the one from the scenes, and the one in real life.

  
The scene moved on, showing quick flashes of Peter finding some weird purple glowing rock after a run-in with the vulture. Johnny could feel Peter wince every time Stark appeared on the screen. Johnny just curled into him tighter, hoping that would offer the other boy enough comfort. He seemed to relax slightly, so Johnny guessed that was a good thing.

 

There were a few more scenes playing out, most of them involved Peter’s extremely obvious crush on another girl, Liz. Johnny forced himself to figure out her name, if only to try and remember if Peter ever spoke about her. He tried to shove down the jealousy growing in him. _Peter was allowed to have friends and crushes. He isn’t mine._

 

Johnny glanced up quickly at Peter, only to find his friend’s face bright pink. Ben snorted as Peter gave him a weak glare. He reached out for his mask, before Johnny’s hand shot out, grabbing his arm before he could put it back on.

“Wait!”

The room fell silent as the scene froze suddenly and Johnny regretted all of the choices he had made in his life that had led to this moment.

“I mean… I just…” Johnny saw Sue raise an eyebrow, “I like your face.”

Dead silence. _Well that came out wrong._

“I mean… I just like seeing your face separate to your mask. As in… with your suit. And your face. I… I’m going to shut-up now.”

 

Johnny buried himself further into Peter’s chest as he waited for the boy to burst into laughter or to shove him away. Instead, Peter gently put his hand back in Johnny’s hair, and slowly started running his fingers through it, as if petting a cat. Johnny was embarrassed to admit how good it felt.

 

Johnny peered up at Peter, who had a soft, awed expression. Quickly glancing away Johnny turned back to the scene which was still paused. Johnny frowned, confused.

_Why isn’t it starting?_

He realised as soon as he heard the sound of a camera clicking, as he looked up to find Sue smiling guiltily as she put her phone away.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist.”

_“Now that we are all happy and comfortable, can we please continue?”_

“Shut up ceiling guy!” they all yelled at the same time, then laughed quietly.

 

When they finally fell silent again, the scene started to play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I am so sorry that this took so long to publish, and I'm really sorry about how short it was. School has been really busy lately, and I had a friend living with me for a week as their parents were away, then my parents are about to go away so I'm couch surfing and basically I've been really stressed and haven't had much time to myself. And I'm embarrassed how this chapter turned out, the quality is awful and I was cringing the entire time as I wrote it. I just needed to get something out and I'm sorry it wasn't the best. Anyway, I hope it wasn't too horrible. Thank you so much for reading! I'll try to make the next chapter a lot better to make up for it. No promises though, I don't want to get anyone's hopes up.  
> As always, please leave kudos and comment! It really helps me to write, otherwise it feels as if no one really cares. Anyway, that's enough from me tonight. Goodbye!


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